'Gov't bloating numbers on job orders for OFWs'

ABS-CBN News

MANILA, Philippines - A recruitment industry expert considers the 600,000 job orders for Filipinos announced by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) as “bloated” and “leftovers” from previous years.

In a statement, recruitment specialist Emmanuel Geslani said the 600,000 jobs have been compiled or “leftovers” from previous years, and are not “new” ones as what government officials have been implying.

He said the recruitment industry was able to deploy 322,198 new hires in 2010, which is only 40% of the available job orders accredited by POEA.

This is considerably down from 326,156 and 347,000 in 2009 and 2008, respectively. He said these posts are difficult to fill up because the country lacks qualified manpower.

What the industry saw was a surge in re-hires, which means that fewer Filipinos are qualified to work abroad because of the lack of skills and experience, he said.

There are 781,710 rehires in 2010, a jump from 600,000 in 2008 and 742,447 in 2009.

The POEA claimed the 600,000 job orders came from 120 countries.

More than 50,000 household workers are needed in Hong Kong, while Taiwan is open to 40,000 factory workers, it said.

It added 21,000 construction workers are also needed in Kuwait.

Even with the looming Saudization policy, Saudi Arabia is still open to 16,000 Filipino nurses, it added.

In Switzerland, on the other hand, companies need 411,000 health care professionals such as nurses and caregivers.

“Some of those countries in Europe have complicated entry requirements and language barriers which our workers may find difficult to overcome especially with the crackdown on illegal migrants and millions of jobless EU workers,” Geslani said.

He also revealed the Senate Committee on Labor and Employment will investigate these “bloated numbers,” which allegedly has been the source of human trafficking and illegal recruitment problems. – with a report from Apples Jalandoni, ABS-CBN News